Please help me diagnose

[northwoods]

My DD will be 4 months tomorrow.

Often, when she starts to nurse, she stops, arches her back, and screams. Sometimes she goes on nursing, sometimes she continues to fuss and cry. She also does the arching/screaming bit when she's overstimulated and tired.

My husband thinks I should cut out dairy, which I'm just starting to do (on day 3). I read here that dairy allergy will result in green, mucusy poops, but I've only seen one of those.

Any ideas?

[LadyCatherine185]

Both of my babies have done that and both have had reflux and dairy issues. Also, I have a very forceful letdown and slight oversupply, which adds to the discomfort of nursing for them.

Is this a new behavior? Or has she always done this? This article in kellymom.com gave me a lot of good ideas to help nursing go more smoothly for my babes-- http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/baby/back-to-breast.html

and here is one on forceful letdown-- http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html

Once DS1 got a little older (around 6 months or so) he was able to keep up with the flow a lot better and started nursing much more peacefully. I have also had to cut dairy for both kids and they have both had to be on reflux medication. good luck mama!

[northwoods]

Thanks!

I should add that even with the arching/screaming, she ends up nursing well and is gaining weight like a little porker.

I have a hard time distinguishing between fussing because she's sleepy and fussing because she's uncomfortable.

[Knitting Mama]

That makes me think of reflux for sure. My daughter had silent reflux, which is when they are having reflux without spitting up. Often I'd hear her burp up and then swallow again, but that isn't a requirement of silent reflux. There are a couple of things you can do to try to alleviate some of her pain before resorting to medication:

• Always nurse with her head/upper body elevated.
• By the same token, always lay her to sleep with her upper body elevated. The goal is to let gravity help keep her milk down until her esophogeal sphincter is stronger.
• Burp her well, upright.

[osker]

E did that sometimes at that age. She doesn't have reflux or digestive problems, but she does get tired easily and do much, much better when she's had better/more sleep.  How much/often does your baby sleep?

[laneysprout]

It could also be an issue with heavy letdown....especially if she nurses better once the flow of milk slows down.  Green poop can also be a sign of foremilk/hindmilk imbalance, which can be associated with heavy letdown as well.

[bethanymama]

My almost 4 month old DD does this when she has bad gas - seems like the nursing stimulates her digestive system and it starts to hurt - but I can also hear/smell the gas so it's pretty obvious. I am now realizing that it is probably related to when I eat heavy dairy - ice cream, cream based soups. She doesn't have green poo or anything though.

[1blueheron]

DD did this for a while, especially at night when tired -- we started nursing side-lying instead, and that seemed to make her happier

[northwoods]

Thanks, all! This has been really helpful. I've been reading up on silent reflux, and it seems like that's gotta be it.